Miso soup with greens and tofu

Method

1. Bring the water, dashi, or broth to a gentle simmer.
2. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the tofu and greens. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the greens wilt.
4. Turn the heat to low. Put the miso in a small bowl, ladle in some hot broth, and stir until smooth.
5. Stir the loosened miso back into the pot. Do not boil after adding miso.
6. Taste and add a little soy sauce if needed.
7. Serve with scallions and optional wakame.

Notes

• Why cubes are right here. Miso soup is an intentional exception to the rough-tofu rule. Soft tofu is cut into clean cubes so it stays intact in the clear, delicate broth; hand-torn soft tofu would crumble and cloud the soup. Use rough hand-torn pieces in thick sauces and glazes instead.
• Do not boil miso. High heat dulls the flavour.
• For a fuller soup, add extra mushrooms, or cooked shredded chicken or salmon flakes if the meal does not have to be vegetarian.
• Dashi made with bonito, katsuobushi, is fish, so the dashi version of this soup is not vegetarian and a dashi packet almost always contains it. For the vegetarian version use water, vegetable broth, or a kombu dashi with two or three dried shiitake soaked in it, which gives back most of the depth.

Good with

• Miso yaki onigiri
• Nobu-style miso black cod
• Spinach gomae

From Christoph Mayer